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Tuesday night saw Loudoun Valley travel to No. 3 Independence for the Tigers' first home game in school history. A mid-afternoon thunderstorm delayed the start of the game and left the evening cool and humid. Both teams started seniors in the game, with Valley going with Aaron Lautenschlager (Randolph-Macon) and Indy starting Brandon Clarke (Alabama).

The game was slow and marred with defensive miscues and walks, as the teams combined for just five hits while committing five errors, hitting three batters, and issuing 22 walks total. Valley jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first and extended the lead to 5-0 in the top of the third. Independence cut the deficit to 5-2 in the bottom of the third and had a few other chances to chip away in the middle innings, but ultimately the Vikings extended the lead in the sixth and cruised to a 9-3 victory.

Valley was led by senior Matt Courchaine, who was 2-4 with an RBI and collected the Vikings' only hits. Lautenschlager threw the first two innings and one batter in the third, going 2 IP, 1 R, 0 H, 2 K, and 4 BB. He was 0-4 at the plate but drew a walk and had an RBI. Matt Mazaara had a stellar performance in the middle innings, going 3.2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 6 K, and 2 BB to earn the win.

Independence struggled with walks on the mound and defensive miscues in the field, with senior Sam Davies (St. Joe's) turning in the best performance in relief, going 2 IP, 3 R (none earned), 1 H, 3 K, and 3 BB. Offensively, sophomore Tyler Fetterman was 1-2 with 2 RBIs, a BB, and a rocket double of the base of the left-centerfield fence. Aidan McDonald (James Madison) was 0-2 with 2 BBs in the leadoff spot.

 

Loudoun Valley

 

Aaron Lautenschlager SS / RHP / Loudoun Valley, VA / 2021 Lautenschlager is a Randolph-Macon commit. He started the game on the mound and worked 2+ innings. Throws from a high three-quarters arm slot, short arm action and normal effort to his delivery. Fastball was 78-81x, showed a change-up at 76 and a curveball at 67-69. Did a good job of changing speeds and keeping hitters off balance, worked fastball to both sides of the plate. Got squeezed on the corners driving his walk number up, but put up a momentum seizing zero in the first after Valley jumped out in the top half of the inning, ending that inning with both of his strikeouts. At the plate, showed good discipline in his first at-bat, waiting out Clarke and not chasing out of the zone. In his other at-bats, showed a gap to gap approach, barreling the ball just not finding holes. Hit situationally well with an RBI groundout. Played short after pitching and played well, has range and playmaking ability at short. Made a very tough play on a chopper in the hole, charging it and fielding and then throwing off balance with accuracy to get a tough out.